


The Gleam at Night

by InkedConstellations



Series: 23 Emotions Challenge [2]
Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Allen isn't as good at hiding things as he wishes he was, Finders being awkward and in the way, Kanda's more observant than people give him credit for, M/M, Peace, Quiet, Trains, Wishes, Wishful Thinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-03
Updated: 2015-10-03
Packaged: 2018-04-24 15:18:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4924678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkedConstellations/pseuds/InkedConstellations
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Usually it's impossible to tell what Allen Walker was really thinking. He was far too difficult for anyone to figure out.</p><p>But that never stopped Kanda from trying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gleam at Night

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [23emotions](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/23emotions) collection. 



> **Prompt:**  
>  fata organa (n.): a flash of real emotion glimpsed in someone sitting across the room, idly locked in the middle of some group conversation, their eyes glinting with vulnerability or quiet anticipation or cosmic boredom—as if you could see backstage through a gap in the curtains, watching stagehands holding their ropes at the ready, actors in costume mouthing their lines, fragments of bizarre sets waiting for some other production.
> 
> I had fun with this one~ Spinning off another fic of mine, A Fool's Crown, which you can find here:  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/4900615

The train was silent but for the rattling of the tracks beneath them and the rumble of the engine. Occasionally the white hooded Finder would cough, hand flying to cover his mouth, but other wise the quiet was oppressive. The mission, a rare thing these days, had been successful. Oddly successful. The total combined death and injury count could be inscribed on Kanda's personal records as a jawdroppingly low zero.

Kanda honestly didn't think that had ever happened.

Chin propped on his fist, he glanced out the window, only half-watching the ground race alongside the train. Kanda could see his reflection in the glass, a pale face framed by midnight hair. The light of the cabin bounced across his cheeks, blotting out the shrubs outside. Despite his current company, he angled a quick glare at the coughing Finder and Beansprout, Kanda felt at peace. It had been a long day, and even if he couldn't meditate at the moment he felt a strange kind of serenity.

The Finder coughed, and Allen dropped the cards he had been shuffling quietly, the sound of stiff cardboard fluttering to the ground muffled by Allen's short curse. Well. There went that hope for peacefulness. Frowning, his concentration disrupted, Kanda couldn't find that spot of relaxation any longer. He turned a slanted glare towards Allen, frustration evident as the boy picked up his cards and began shuffling again, the previously tolerable noise now grating on Kanda's nerves. "Do you have to do that? It's fucking annoying."

Allen glanced up, surprised for a moment, then seemed to swing into the groove of their traditionally antagonistic relationship as he returned Kanda's glare. "It's not like I have anything else to do, BaKanda."

The Finder shuffled uncomfortable as the glare the two shared intensified. The poor man could practically see the spark of electricity running between the two, and he was pretty sure it was comprised of pure hatred. Even if the silence had returned, the air had changed from "quietly peaceful" to "ready to explode any second now" and he pulled at his collar. Unfortunately, this had the unforeseen effect of squeezing his neck. Clearing his throat to relieve the pressure spiraled into a loud, harsh coughing fit, and suddenly he found himself the recipient of both glares. He shuddered like a mouse under the gaze of a lion.

Trembling, he pointed to the door of the cabin. "I-I'm going to head to the bathroom." Standing swiftly he made his escape, letting the door slide shut behind him as he raced down the train to curl up in his own cabin, shaking uncontrollably.

The secondary annoyance now eliminated, Kanda returned his glare to Allen, only to find the boy relaxing back into his seat, cards neatly stacked and put away on the space beside him. Blue eyes stared unseeingly out the window, just as Kanda had been doing moments before, and the raven-haired man scoffed. Surprisingly, Allen ignored him, and Kanda watched the boy quietly for a second longer, waiting for his response. Allen gave none, except for a quiet sigh that might have been inaudible if not for Kanda's highly trained senses and the fact that almost all of his concentration was on the boy in front of him.

Settling back in his own seat, Kanda's frown deepened. He really didn't understand that Moyashi. How he could be so infuriating and then lose all will to fight mere seconds later escaped Kanda. Just as he was about to turn away, Kanda saw a flash of something in Allen's eyes, something he couldn't really explain.

It was as if, for a moment, he saw the real boy behind his smiles. A flash of something small and cold and very lonely. It seemed to cry out that Allen Walker still existed, even behind all his lies and that immovable title "Exorcist". It only gleamed there for a moment before Allen shifted in his seat, brushing white hair from his face with gloved fingers and settling in more comfortably to fall asleep. How he could fall asleep around Kanda was yet another mystery, and the swordsman found himself watching Allen's sleeping face just a little longer, for some reason unwilling to break the shaky truce that existed in these few small moments alone.

The train whistle sounded, spiraling into darkness. Their cabin shook for a moment before returning to its steady rocking. And the two of them quietly continued towards the black castle called home,  
silently,  
silently,  
existing.


End file.
